Rodney A. Whitacre, A Patristic Greek Reader (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007).
This book is for those who want to explore early Christian texts written in Greek from the first to the eleventh centuries. The passages represent a variety of topics, genres, styles of writing, and levels of difficulty.
Along with the complete text of the Didache and Ignatius’s Letter to the Romans, the book contains 47 selections from other documents. Brief introductions set the passages in context and a short bibliography lists resources for further study.
Very literal (formal equivalent) translations of all of the passages are provided to help make sense of the Greek. The notes on the Greek text assume knowledge of basic Greek, but for those whose Greek is rusty—or worse—I include more extensive help for chapters 7-10 of the Didache.
The content of these selections illustrates historical, theological, and spiritual riches found in the writings of the early teachers of the church. The language of some of the readings, such as the Didache, represents the easiest Greek there is, while others have a form of Greek which is much more sophisticated than anything in the New Testament. Thus, both the content and the language of these selections include something of interest for a variety of readers.
A Patristic Greek Reader is available on the Baker website, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
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© Rodney A. Whitacre. All rights reserved.